Jury selected for trial of men accused of helping Hong Kong intelligence service
The judge said the case was ‘interesting and important’ and could take up to nine weeks.
Potential jurors have been selected to try two men accused of breaching the National Security Act by assisting the Hong Kong intelligence service.
Dual Chinese and British nationals Chi Leung (Peter) Wai, 38, and Chung Biu Yuen, 65, are charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service.
Between December 20 2023 and May 2 2024, it is alleged they agreed to undertake information gathering, surveillance and acts of deception.
A second charge alleges foreign interference on May 1 2024 by forcing entry into a UK residential address.
Wai alone faces a third charge of misconduct in a public office between September 16 2022 and May 2 2024.
The charge alleges that while working as a UK Border Force Officer, he “wilfully misconducted himself by conducting searches of Home Office databases available to him in his role as a public officer without justification for doing so”.
Wai, of Staines-upon-Thames, Surrey; and Yuen, of Hackney, east London; have denied the charges against them.
On Monday, a panel of 22 potential jurors was selected to try the defendants at the Old Bailey.
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb told them it was an “interesting and important” case that would take up to nine weeks.
The process of jury selection will continue on Tuesday, before prosecutor Duncan Atkinson KC is expected to open the trial on Wednesday.
